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Patti Smith. Fillmore. 12.29.15 “horses groping for a sign for a breath … charms. sweet angels – you have made me no longer afraid of death.” Patti Smith, the poet, read prose from the back cover of a forty-year-old album, before Patti Smith, the punk rocker, threw her fists in the air and denied complicity in the sins that led… Read more →

Albums continue to be my format of choice. I think they always will be. Lucky for me, the artists I follow seem to prefer albums as well. That’s not to say there isn’t a place in my life for singles though. Most years are packed with individual tracks that catch my attention — whether because they are really good, extremely awful,… Read more →

2015 was an interesting year in music. I spent time with many releases, across a spectrum of sounds, and I enjoyed every minute of the adventure. That being said, when I tried to define my favorite albums, I found myself in a difficult position. How does someone rank Jason Isbell in association to Grimes? How does Chris Stapleton’s obliteration of the pop country… Read more →

2015 was another great year for live music in Colorado (and elsewhere). I still have one more show (Patti Smith at the Fillmore in San Francisco), but I wanted to get this out there. My final count came to 181 performances across 76 shows and a 3-day festival. 30 of those shows were in Morrison, making 2015 my busiest Red Rocks season to… Read more →

As I’ve said before, this blog no longer focuses on album reviews or news or anything of that sort. The sole purpose of ILSUDH2 is to share my ‘live’ music experiences. I do my best to recap the shows I go to, but I just don’t have the time or energy to do much else these days. That being said,… Read more →

Nikki Lane. Bluebird Theater. 12.06.15 My wife and I got married on a cold December night in Denver, Colorado. We went down to the courthouse, said our vows, and then found our way to the Grizzly Rose to meet some friends. A young country artist named Miranda Lambert performed that night. The honky-tonk off I-25 was pretty packed, but nowhere… Read more →

Dead & Company. 1stBank Center. 11.25.15 Part I: My Personal Thoughts Before The Show Let me start out by saying I’ve never really liked the Grateful Dead. As a fan of music in general, I’ve always respected the legacy the band built over the thirty years they existed, but I’ve never understood the draw. I consider myself a live music connoisseur… Read more →

Chris Stapleton. El Rey Theatre. 11.13.15 “It looks like we’re going to have some fun tonight.” Those words were obviously meant for the packed house at the El Rey Theatre in Chico, California, but Chris Stapleton couldn’t take his eyes off his wife when he spoke them. Concealing his true identity behind a grizzly mane and a weathered cowboy hat,… Read more →

Sturgill Simpson. Ogden Theatre. 11.05.15 As the old-timey sounds of The Osborne Brothers’ “Listening to the Rain” bled into the glammy jam of T. Rex’s “The Motivator”, the man who has been called the Savior of Country Music didn’t have much to say about anything at all. It had only been twenty-four hours since Chris Stapleton embarrassed the status quo… Read more →

Jason Isbell. Ryman Residency. October 2015 You made some new friends after the show But you’ll forget their names In 24 frames We were halfway through the first Jason Isbell performance of the weekend when his latest single found its way into the setlist. The song (which uses frames per second as a metaphor for how fast life can change)… Read more →

Autre Ne Veut. Lost Lake Lounge. 10.16.15 Arthur Ashin was slouched down in a puddle of his own emotions while singing into his arm – “No way, no way, no way you’re gonna be my baby” – the words were slightly muffled as he buried his face all the way to the brim of his backward baseball cap. The man… Read more →